We now have a better understanding of the scale of the issue, as the first estimates on the number of school-age children living in internal displacement are available. At the global level, at least 12.6 million children of primary or secondary school-age are displaced within their own country because of conflict or violence alone. Most of them live in sub-Saharan Africa, where even non-displaced children often face challenges in accessing quality education. Millions more are displaced because of disasters, climate change and other causes.

Ways to use and improve this new information on the education of internally displaced children, and recommendations on how governments, humanitarian and development actors can protect their right to quality education, are discussed in the two papers.

As the first assessment of the cost of internal displacement on education was published in February this year, we can now inform development planning and crisis response strategies of the countries affected by internal displacement, and of humanitarian and development organisations, with an estimated budget they would need to cover basic educational needs of all internally displaced children. This budget approximates USD 850 million per year of displacement at the global level, for conflict-affected children only.

Investing in continued education for displaced children is not only economically sensible, as it supports their future income and ability to contribute to the economy. It is also a crucial step in mitigating the negative consequences of internal displacement on their mental and physical health, their security and social life and, eventually, the stability of entire communities.